If they renovate "too much," the tourists might want to check out the Water Tower instead.

Right now, The Urinal has cache for how it looks now. If they start adding more display ads (can't do unless the landmark designation is changed) and whiz-bang electronics, then it is just another baseball stadium and not "beautiful Wrigley Field."

It's hard for me to believe that Ricketts and Epstein are as tone-deaf as they sometimes appear. Certainly they know that the ballpark is their golden goose and that they'd be fools to screw it up. The ball club is simply the activity that goes on inside the tourist attraction they operate.

They've got some real physical challenges to deal with. How do you add "42%" more restrooms, a fan deck in left field, an expanded clubhouse, more concession stands, etc., without significantly changing the appearance of the ballpark? Add to that the likely need to rebuild the 100 year-old structural core of the building and it becomes a major renovation. My guess is that they're willing to lose the landmark status if it allows them to increase their cash flow.

That place morphed a long time ago from a baseball park to a myth-imbued venue that was an ATM machine for the Tribune and still is now for Ricketts. Baseball is just one of the interchangeable events they host there.